An unnamed group nine young Nokia shareholders who have also been employees have released an open letter to the company's other shareholders and institutional investors saying the Microsoft deal is a bad one for Nokia and chief executive Stephen Elop should be replaced.

A group of Nokia shareholders oppose the Nokia-Microsoft partnership. Photo credit: David Meyer

In the letter, the group said it plans to challenge the Nokia-Microsoft partnership and strategy at the company's Annual General Meeting for Shareholders on 3 May. It said it has also developed a 'Plan B' approach that involves not only replacing Elop, but also looks to revamp the company's hiring strategy and eliminate "outdated and bureaucratic R&D practices".

These shareholders said they want to avoid, at all costs, "becoming a poorly differentiated OEM [original equipment manufacturer] with only low margin, commodity products that is unable to attract top software talent and cannot create shareholder value though innovation".